hope

Blog, Poetry, Writers

Tetralogy of Hope Songs by Becky Peleowo

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  I Just a little Joy Hope your day was well spent Even when some roads were bent And when all goals were not met So many lacks, not much to get Hope in your heart you sure can bet That at least some joy was felt Hope you cleared off even a little debt Hope your day was well spent.   Friend, my day was well-spent Though some roads were bent Though not all goals were met Though too many to clear, the debt One thing, one hope, I sure can bet That there was at least some joy I felt And all my best thanks to God, sent Today, dear friend, was well spent.   II Lost A song to the ones who are lost A song to the victims of war A song to the souls that have lost sense of self to canons of war.   Ọlálékan! I remain a married virgin I am the widowed bride That awaits the coming of her groom Will my dusk never cease? Will my night bring no bliss? Olalekan! You are but the dusk The Taurus dusk, That confined me to celibate vows Are you gone or lost? Have you licked the dust? Will my dawn never come? On the once green hills now turned plains Where their chaotic fireballs kissed the dust Their barks stiffened sucklings to death The mournful pleas turned on deaf ears You sought succour for your newlywed But their piercing dart hits the bullseye The conjugal drums played amorous dirge Their destructive tambourines did fireworks See, dancing massacred bodies with their ubiquitous presence But Olalekan did not dance with them Ọlálékan, you disappeared. Where are you, my love? The Virgin cried on her wedding night The Virgin cried for the dawn Is my dawn forever lost? Ọlálékan! You were my dawn. You are my dusk. Would the gong rather not proclaim your demise? Than the wait for a lost one Come, my love! Come be my dawn! I wait in my Chantilly gown Till at long I no longer can.   Hope to the ones who have lost Hope to the victims of war Hope to the loved ones of the lost Who live in anticipation of their return.   III To a Weary Soul As long as the earth is round Know this, my weary friend. Even if the cumbrous globe Rests on your shoulders And on yours alone And the ever-raging waters Turbulently engulfs you You gasp for life, for breath And all around you exhume nothing But despair and melancholy No lever to lift the load No neck to stand the head Keep that head on your shoulders And strut tall, my weary friend For alone, life’s ferry conveyed you in Alone, you truly will be Like the legs in a dirndl You think you were disavowed No, you’ve always been alone From the commencement of the Copernican system To the moment I speak, weary friend Don’t be weary my friend, Save your last breath to acclaim That eclat which my echoic song foresee   IV Life Life’s bed, dear friend Is always not of roses And even if it is Could have a pillow of thorns Or a bed of prickles.   Life’s oven, dear child May not always bake bread And even when it does Could burn the bread so bad That you can’t take a bite.   Life’s success, dear friend May not always be guaranteed And even when it’s not It’s just one of the rainy days The sun will soon shine.    

Creative Essays, Writers

Hope by Victor Oladejo.

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“ l am so sorry, those guys didn’t deliver the products, l consulted some of those firms, they said hmm……” Frank’s heart was beating faster. He was scared. “ They said, those guys are con artists, the money is gone “ Frank dropped the phone and stared at the wardrobe next to the bed. Why? He asked himself. He had invested all he had in the proposal. Joel brought the business proposal and he invested, now the expected poultry feeds and the money are gone. Where should l start from? He thought. Frank stood and walked to the door, he opened it and walked into the hotel alley that connected with the beer bar. He walked briskly and didn’t return greetings. He walked to the bar. The middle-aged bartender smiled and held out his hand, which frank shook absentmindedly. He was fighting a great battle in his mind. He thought the brown bottles would help in his defense. “ Frank you don’t drink beer. Why is today different?” the black, bartender said and smiled, and turned. He took beer bottles from the freezer beside the shelf. “ l am tired” he replied and rubbed his temples. “ Then take energy drinks, beer won’t help you” “ Just give me the beer,” he said and squeezed his hands. “ Frank….” the bartender arranged the beer bottles in a white tray and a mug beside them. “ Frank what happened. You see, with your good behaviour here, unlike the rest, l love you and l have children like you. Why are you different today?” “ my business just failed and all the money l burrowed, up to fifteen million Naira is gone. I don’t know where to start. “ Frank said and swallowed hard. A guy came and ordered two bottles of beer. “ l am so sorry and l feel your pain. But in this world, sometimes you learn, sometimes you win. I know what l am saying sounds silly, but life is worth another dry” The bartender said and patted Frank’s shoulder. Frank stared at the man and forced a dry smile. He dragged a stool and sat on it. “ You might be wondering why l am saying this, believe me, l was once in your shoes” the bartender said and wiped his hands on his white apron. “ l was a businessman years ago before l was duped, l lost everything l had in this incidence, my wife ran away and l was lost in despair. My loss of capital made me what you see here today. What you need is hope. I know why you want to drink this beer, you want to get drunk, then commit suicide. If you die the problem won’t be solved…..please don’t try it”. Frank nodded, he started at the sage man for a while and he carried the tray and returned to his room. He sat on a sofa and opened the first bottle and gulped the beer. He sniffed. The deep sour smell of the beer nauseated him. He rubbed his lips with his hand and drank directly from the bottle again. He thought about the proposal and his head pounded harder. Chief Adeleye’s voice rang in his head : “ The money is for the community project. Since everyone needs poultry feed here in Ore, l would give you the money for the investment” Tears gathered in his eyes as he reminisced. He thought about his family. He was the eldest of a family of seven children. His father was an office clerk and his mother a petty trader. The belief they had in him made them offer all they had for his progress. I have failed, he said to himself. Why should this happen to me, why?. He opened another bottle and gulped the brown liquid. He dropped the bottle beside the sofa. He took his phone and checked his account balance. He glared at the giant goose eggs beside the Naira and Kobo. He felt some movement in his finger, he jerked his hand and his stomach tightened. He ignored the pain and took the bottle from the ground. He drank what was left and opened another bottle. He stood walked to the only table in his hotel room. He held unto the table and his reflection on the mirror scared him. He smiled and rubbed his eyebrows with his smelly fingers. His face was a perfect death mask. His eyes were red like those of Vampires from Twilight Zones. He walked slowly like a giant, walking with the limbs of a mosquito to the wardrobe. He took his keys with his shaking fingers. He was dizzy and the room was spinning. He tried to insert the key but the lock was rolling. He laughed and tried again. In his present state, he was very drunk and couldn’t realize that he was inserting the key into the window blind beside the wardrobe. He staggered to his left and fell on the sofa and he drifted off to sleep. And then……………. The air was cold. The balcony was tiled and there were chairs and tables of different colours. Flowers in little brown vases were arranged by the sides of the burnt brick dwarf walls which had railings. Frank held his bottle in his hand. Chief Adeleye’s voice kept ringing in his ears. He shook his bottle and nodded. He danced some steps and laughed hysterically. My end is here, he said to himself. He wiped his eyes with his smelly fingers and cried. He started at the rooftops of other buildings close to the hotel and the ones that dotted the landscape in the distance. He staggered to the railings and the bottle fell and shattered into tiny bits. The brown beer flowed to the bottom of a brown vase close to him. He shut his eyes and coughed. He crossed the railings and stood on the ledge. He looked down and was struck with fear. The vehicles

Essays, Writers

Beyond The Despair, There Is Hope by Oyinola Abosede.

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  Arise o compatriots, Nigeria call obey …  This is the first two lines of the National Anthem of my beloved country, Nigeria. These words always brighten my spirit whenever I echo it or hear some beautiful harmonics of it being played. As a child, I can still remember myself battling with my pharynx in order to learn each lines in its stanzas. But today, these words in the anthem have planted seeds in my heart that have grown continually and built up patriotism in me which I believe binds Nigerians all over the world.     Jogging down the memory lane, it does not seem difficult for one to imagine Nigeria as a gallimaufry of sorts. After all, from nature to culture and then to religion, the country displays a wide range of variegations: its terrain stretches from savannah, vast, arid to lush forests teeming with wildlife, its people: Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and some hundreds more, exhibit a remarkable prodigiousness in language, festivals, food, belief systems, and values.     The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a sovereign and democratic nation located in West Africa. She shares land borders with the republic of Benin in the West, Chad and Cameroon in the East, and Niger in the North. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. Nigeria is Africa’s most populated country, as well as the 8th most populated in the world with a population of approximately 200 million people. However, the history of Nigeria cannot be complete without inclusion of the colonial era, which was led by the British Empire. We can never forget how our fellow compatriots were sold for slavery far abroad the shores of the nation. The colonial period lasted from 1900 to 1960, after which Nigeria gained her independence. All thanks to our valiant heroes who fought for our cause and achieved sovereignty.   Judging from a cursory glance, I remembered how we celebrated our golden jubilee a decade ago. I was privileged to be nominated for an award on the independence day at the National Stadium. The skies above Abuja, the Nigerian capital, provided the stage for a dramatic air show and the world’s biggest cake was wheeled into the National Stadium. The President was set to present 50 golden jubilee independence anniversary awards to outstanding Nigerians who have distinguished themselves as notable patriots and have been found worthy of honor in the nation, and visitors will admire the new 18-metre Independence Tower, built on the very spot where the union flag was first lowered and the green and white of Nigeria’s first hoisted.     But as I stepped forward to receive my award at the National Stadium, I looked deep into the eyes of the average Nigerian, the shocking fact is that Nigerians have become more impoverished than they were at independence. Buffeted by a cocktail of afflictions ranging from failed infrastructure, to insecurity, unemployment, poverty, corruption, decaying educational system, ritual killings, sexual harassment, rape, tribalism, communal clashes and nepotism, just to mention a few. The truth is that the song of lamentation on the lips of many Nigerians has generated a chorus that is so easy to chant but which does not sound friendly to the ears. Yet, Nigeria is seen as a thriving economy. You will agree with me that for a country endowed with such rich and fertile soils and Africa’s largest oil reserves, it should be doing much better.     I strongly believe we need to ask ourselves: What went wrong? This is because the answer to this would elicit a plethora of charges ranging from politics to the absence of good leadership, military incursion, a populace lacking in patriotic ethos etc. In fact, the late American President John Kennedy had expected Nigeria to become a first world economy before or by 1975. Quite sad we did not.    However, in the face of these many despair that Nigeria faces today within the country, its immediate West African and the world at large, the questions that linger are whether Nigeria “can”. Can Nigeria still be relied upon to play a leading role in Africa? Can Nigeria be trusted to fulfil its purpose of safeguarding the lives, property and interests of Nigerians? Is there still hope for the country? Can Nigeria still work? Would Nigeria eventually be among the top countries of the world alongside countries like Germany, USA, China, Russia, and the UK, etc.? These are questions that I believe, defines the “hope” of Nigeria as a country.    I believe Nigeria is capable. There is still hope. Nigeria can still work.   What inspires my confidence in the capability of Nigeria? I believe the glory days of the past show that the purpose of Nigeria is to play a leading role in Africa beyond and the way it played the role in the past with aplomb inspires confidence in me that Nigeria is more than capable of such a leading role in the present and future.      I strongly believe Nigeria can get better and rise to more glory and if followed through can change the paradigm. For example, Billionaire Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija has explained that collectively we can build a thriving economy. Former President, Goodluck Jonathan insists that we should move away from luggage economy. Mr. Tony Elumelu believes Nigeria can still work and has inspired hope in the lives of Nigerian entrepreneurs by supporting them with seed capital in their businesses. While Africa’s greatest industrialist Dangote, inspires hope in Nigerians by opening our eyes to a new face of wealth through hard work and discipline.     Furthermore, the confidence in the capacity of Nigerians to fulfill its purpose does not only rest on previous exploits of the country in and out of Africa. You will agree with me that there are however indications that are motivating in the assumption of responsibility in leadership. The 2015 and 2019 general election held in Nigeria were relatively free and fair. Consequently, Nigeria has formed military alliance with other countries of the world such as Russia, France and the UK in combating the menace of terrorism and Boko Haram in the past few years and as at mid-2020, Nigeria continues to play a key role in ECOWAS and AU    I have confidence that with the commitment of Nigerians to come together to change the system for the better, the next coming years would be our biggest and best yet. I believe there is hope just like a writer put it, hope is better served as breakfast, not expected for dinner. Let us join hands together to inspire hope in every Nigerians and make our nation greater irrespective of our tribal, cultural and religious differences. God bless Nigeria!      References  How Great is Nigeria by Udemy Akpan culled from

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